The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its
latest report last month on the healthcare system. While this may not be the
most exciting thing you’ve heard all week, allow me to recast this
bureaucratic, lengthy report in a much brighter light.
The report (which can be found here) is
titled Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path
to Continuously Learning Health Care in America. I found the 5-page report
brief to be incredibly informative, succinct, and relevant to what we are
learning here in our DNP program, and to the challenges we face while
participating in patient care. In essence, the report highlights the
inefficiencies and lack of quality with which healthcare is currently delivered
in this country, and sets out specific recommendations to produce a more
adaptive and efficient system. Let me briefly discuss what I found to be the
three essential components recommended for our current healthcare system.
A comprehensive use of technology. Using technology tools in healthcare, such as EHRs and patient
portals, are no longer considered optional.
In order to continuously and effectively adapt to the complex and changing
system of healthcare—which is made up of complex and changing patients—we must
utilize the affordable and convenient tools that are available to us. This
means creating patient portals where patients and clinicians can share
knowledge, resources, and other information. It means connecting with clinical
databases that offer real-time clinical decision-making support. It also means
capturing all data—including patient and financial outcomes—electronically, in
order to continuously assess the healthcare processes and make changes more
quickly.
Patients as an integral part of the healthcare team. Patient inclusion and empowerment is, thankfully, a growing trend
in healthcare discussions. In this report, the IOM repeatedly references
patients as being an essential part of the clinical decision making process.
Treatment plans should be tailored to the individual needs and preferences of
each individual patient. Patients should be encouraged to use patient portals
for education, communication with providers, and sharing of data that can be
used to evaluate patient reported outcomes. In response to the call for greater
use of technology, it is even proposed that technology developers create
digital tools that can further empower patients in managing their own care.
An open culture of learning. The
cultural wisdom is clear and we all know it is true: The best experts in any
field are the ones who are lifelong
learners. The unending thirst for knowledge can be instilled in
practitioners through their education programs, which should offer students the
most current knowledge and skills in accessing, managing, and applying evidence
for practice. However, the workplace culture is what must continue to support
this quest for knowledge by offering a safe place for questioning, adapting,
and collaborating. Healthcare leaders (which includes us) need to embody the
qualities of respectfulness, transparency, and inquisitiveness in order to
foster a culture of lifelong learning.
For there is only one constant in the
complexity and chaos of healthcare: Change.
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